Republic of Ireland V Andorra - Wednesday, 7th September 2010 - Euro 2012 Qualifier

[tricky_colour]

It should be possible for the OP to edit the title of the thread, just edit and go advanced.
Alternatively it could be left as it as as it might come in handy for the away leg

[SwanVsDalton]

I think McGeady's getting a sore touch. He terrorised the right back for long periods and while his final ball wasn't always the best, it was better than is being indicated here. In particular I'm thinking about his ball for Keogh (which should've ended in a goal) and his cross at about the 75th minute which was put exactly where Robbie should've been - cept Robbie was static, hanging back five yards looking for a ball which wasn't on.

Understandably it's Andorra and, sure, there could've been a bit more - but cut him a break. He played very well tonight. Questions remain over how much protection he offers KK but those'll be answered another day.

[rebelmusic]

McGeady had a great game. Got a bit sloppy in the last 20 but the whole team did. He at least was the only player who whenever he got the ball, went on the attack. Im far more interested in seeing McGeady losing the ball after making a run into their box then the midfielders passing it back to Given, him thumping it and andorra getting posession. Cut him some slack, seriously.

[aidinho]

I think McGeady's getting a sore touch. He terrorised the right back for long periods and while his final ball wasn't always the best, it was better than is being indicated here. In particular I'm thinking about his ball for Keogh (which should've ended in a goal) and his cross at about the 75th minute which was put exactly where Robbie should've been - cept Robbie was static, hanging back five yards looking for a ball which wasn't on.

Understandably it's Andorra and, sure, there could've been a bit more - but cut him a break. He played very well tonight. Questions remain over how much protection he offers KK but those'll be answered another day.

I agree mate and my English pal who watched the game with me couldn't understand why McGeady was getting a hard time of off Ronnie whealan who personally I've never heard of, my English mate thinks like a Joe Cole player but because the Trap goes defensive he gets stuck on the wing.

And to be fair to the boy he was always coming in from the touchline into centre midfield to create something.

[Sullivinho]

The much maligned Andrews will improve midfield. I've yet to go through the reaction from others above, but I thought that was a perfectly respectable performance myself. The key was that when we needed to score (at 0-0 and 2-1) we scored without too much fuss. Their goal was a great shot and I can't help thinking that against Russia or another good team Dunne would have headed that ball sideways. Instead I felt that at 2-0 he was trying to keep the ball in play for us to build on the knock down. Easy mistake to make.

Lawrence, Doyle, Keane, SSL, Kilbane & O'Shea all put in very good shifts IMHO. McGeady was far from perfect but showed he's got something about him. I'd fear for KK against a better team but that's a nucleus of strong players that can grind results against good teams. Plus Duff of course.

Fully agreed with all of that.

[Stuttgart88]

I think McGeady's getting a sore touch. He terrorised the right back for long periods and while his final ball wasn't always the best, it was better than is being indicated here. In particular I'm thinking about his ball for Keogh (which should've ended in a goal) and his cross at about the 75th minute which was put exactly where Robbie should've been - cept Robbie was static, hanging back five yards looking for a ball which wasn't on.

Understandably it's Andorra and, sure, there could've been a bit more - but cut him a break. He played very well tonight. Questions remain over how much protection he offers KK but those'll be answered another day.

I agree especially with the ball along the 6 yard box that nobody attacked. One should have hung back, one should have attacked the 6 yard box. Both hung back.

He put in a few floated crosses that were a bit wild, but my own view is that he wasn't perfect but showed he has something about him. I think that's fair.

[geysir]

I missed some of the second half (trouble with streams among other things), but what I saw of Kelly amounted to a couple of terrible crosses. I though O'Shea looked the part at right back. I just wish we had two of him.

And no, I never thought I'd write that.

My point is more to do with having a natural full back at FB than a centre half.
The crosses were not great but Kelly is at home along the wing. Josh is more and more a center half as the years roll on. He has bulked up quite a bit and for a wing full back he is just too wooden to offer support along the wing. We need a full back who romps up and down, gets on the ball and allows the wide midfielder more possibilities. Think of Carrs involvement in the goal against Holland away in 2000, or even Finnan at home. We need that fb support in our play. Both Lawrence and McGeady get little support from the full backs, they get outnumbered.
All in al,l I'd take Kelly at full back now and have Josh with Dunne at CH, tough on St.Ledger.

When Gibson came on, Green had to work double. Sorry to say, but Gibson will not now, nor for the near future, be a part of CM. At best he can play in front of the CM. He has a gorgeous touch, a level above the others, but zero workrate.

[elroy]

Really a case of going through the notions tonight. And by and large it was done well except for moments of sloppiness i.e. the goal, although it was a top finish by the Andorran lad. I am disappointed that Trap didnt use the occasion to put a few more of the younger lads out there, particularly when we restored our 2 goal lead. Not much to be learned from anyone tonight. McGeady is a very frustrating character, has oodles of skill, but the end product is by and large inadequate. I really hope he has a decent coaching team in Russia who will work on it.

Where do we stand ahead of the two big games next month?? Im not sure. We are playing reasonably well. Solid at the back, with the exception of left back. Two very very able strikers and good options in the wing in the shape of Duff and Lawro. CM continues to be a concern and is an area where we are unlikely to dominate against any mid to high tier team. What should we look for next month? 4 points? In a sense, a draw at home and a win away to Slovakia would be the best (albeit unlikely) combination.

[elroy]

Also, interestingly I think Armenia's very good result (and unlikely not to win) tonight away to Macedonia really shows that they are no mugs and credits our win there last Friday all the more. The fact that they have got a result tonight is good for us as well as it keeps them interested in the group for their upcoming games against Russia and Slovakia.

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro2012/mat...ort/index.html

[mypost]

Job done, could have got a few more goals, but I'm happy the only thing we lost tonight was the toss. 6 hard games coming up before we play the busmen and binmen again next year.

[strangeirish]

Couldn't watch any of the game today, and reading these pages didnt help much.

If you're in the States, replay is here.

[dahamsta]

Retitled, crap split here, aidanho suspended, obviously.

EDIT: Not his first time, so banned.

[MeathDrog]

Good for the first half hour, poor after Doyle's goal.

Given - 5 Dodgy when called upon which wasn't often. Clearences were poor. He's obviously suffering from lack of practise.

O Shea- 6 Could have came forward a bit more
Dunne -7 Solid
St Ledger- 7 Solid
Kilbane- 7 Good goal and didn't notice any mistakes. Good by his standards

McGeady 5- He beats players and then doesn't have a f*cking clue what to do. Showed flair but crossing was awful. Good play before the 3rd goal though.
Green-6 Better than the Armenia game
Whelan-5 Didn't think he was great
Lawrence-6 Ok but wasn't as good as last Friday

Keane-7 Well taken goal. Could have made better runs but was ok
Doyle -8 Smashing goal and good all round play


Subs:
Gibson -5 Poor.
Kelly -6
Keough -5


The atmosphere, yet again, was ****e. Good to see the creche in the corner didn't get to have their Mexican wave. Why no replays in the TV screens btw?? Are they going to be used purely for ads?

[boovidge]

they never show replays in the ground incase of a poor decision by officials.

[DannyInvincible]

McGeady 5- He beats players and then doesn't have a f*cking clue what to do. Showed flair but crossing was awful. Good play before the 3rd goal though.

Very harsh rating considering he set a goal up in the second half, caused havoc down the wing in the first half especially and actually did put the ball into a dangerous area on a number of occasions, only nobody managed to get onto the end of anything.

Why no replays in the TV screens btw?? Are they going to be used purely for ads?

Maybe there's a UEFA stipulation to avoid potential controversy and so refs won't be tempted to consult a replay on screen in order to make a decision.

[tricky_colour]

Lawrence did some good work for the second ball and supplied the corner for the first, McGeady did well beating his man a few time but often he does nothing with it afterward, however he did put in a good through pass for Keane. Doyle has a good game and scored a quality goal, Given didn't have much to do. Joe Hart didn't have a great game for England, a few fumbles apparently.

[mypost]

Replays of key decisions and goals are banned. Don't know if it extends to entire games as well, (if it does it's a very recent thing) but I was happy the screens were closed to the fans tonight, which allows everyone concentrate on the game.

[MeathDrog]

What absolute rubbish.

[MeathDrog]

Very harsh rating considering he set a goal up in the second half, caused havoc down the wing in the first half especially and actually did put the ball into a dangerous area on a number of occasions, only nobody managed to get onto the end of anything.



Maybe there's a UEFA stipulation to avoid potential controversy and so refs won't be tempted to consult a replay on screen in order to make a decision.

I would have given him 6 for his first half because he did look dangerous but nobody got on the end of his crosses because they tended to go too far.

[Colbert Report]

Christ we are terrible to watch. Doyle is great in the air but I can't stand long ball after long ball. I won't be complaining should the results keep up but I can't see us beating Russia or Slovakia with this approach. We're not THAT bad that we must play this way, are we?